Theology of UniversalismBy Thomas B. Thayer,
1862

Section II.
The Wisdom of God -- The Plan of Creation

<page 32>

In the use of the word "wisdom" in this connection, which is more popular
than precise, we mean chiefly knowledge -- knowledge of all things and all
events; knowledge which embraces all possibilities and excludes all
contingencies. This is a necessary element in the character of Deity -- a
part of his essence. We cannot take away the attribute of omniscience, and
leave the idea of God and the Creator perfect. All things are of God.
Creation is but the out-birth of his thought and action. All events flow
from causes which his will has set in motion, and, therefore, of necessity,
he knows all things as the original cause of all things.

This fact is recognized everywhere in the Bible, in such passages among
others as these: -- "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of
the world" (Acts 15:18). "Great is the Lord, and of great power; his
understanding is infinite" (Ps. 147:5). "He is perfect in knowledge." . .
. . "With him is strength and wisdom; the deceiver and the deceived are
his" (Ps. 22, 26). "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and
I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. 46:10). "For thou, even thou only knowest
the hearts of all the children of men" (1 Kings 8:39). "For I know their
works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations
and tongues; and they shall <page 33> come and see my glory" (Isa. 46:18). "Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are
naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).
"Doth not he see my way, and count all my steps? . . . . For his eyes are
on the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. . . . Therefore, he
knoweth their works and overturneth them" (Job 31, 34). "The eyes of the
Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3).
"Thou understandest my thought afar off (i.e. before it has fairly reached
me, or come into my own mind), and art acquainted with all my ways. There
is not a work in my tongue, but lo! O Lord, thou knowest it altogether"
(Ps. 139). "Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I
declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them" (Isa 92:9).

These passages set forth the doctrine of God's omniscience in clearest
terms. The past, the present, and the future, are all one to him, as the
darkness and light are one. The future cannot hide from him any more than
the darkness. Eternity cannot teach him anything new.

There can be no additions to his knowledge, by the occurrence of events
which he did not foresee or anticipate; events or results which were not
embraced in his original plan. Nothing can come to pass by the action of
causes outside of himself, causes independent of his will, and
self-creative.

Both the character of God as sole Creator, as the Alpha and Omega of the
universe, and the Scriptures as the authorized exponent of his attributes,
establish<page 34> beyond controversy, the fact that all things are known unto him
from the beginning to the end. He knows what is to be, and he shows this
knowledge in the spirit of prophecy, by foretelling the events before they
come to pass. He knows the thoughts and purposes of the hearts of all the
children of men, the evil and the good; marks all their ways, counts their
steps, and numbers the very hairs of their heads. Every thing, thought,
word, desire, action, event, lies open, naked before his all-seeing eye,
fro the establishment of a solar system, or the destruction of a nation,
down to the idle word, or the heart-pulse of the obscurest mortal on earth;
yea, down to the least interest of the invisible animalcule. "His
understanding is infinite; he is perfect in knowledge".

The logical deductions from these divinely authorized premises, are obvious
to every one who has given any thought to the subject. The Divine
Knowledge embraces the future and final condition of every soul of man, and
did embrace it from the beginning, as a part and portion of the original
plan of God, inherent in the very purpose and end He had in view in the
creation of man.

Let us consider this well. Far back in the solitudes of eternity, neither
man nor the earth had an existence. It was entirely optional with God,
whether he would or not, shape this earth, and set it running through its
orbit; whether he would or not, create such a being as man, and put him
here to live out his threescore years and ten. There was no power nor
influence outside of his own choice, to compel him to create. He was
perfectly free to do, or leave undone.

<page 35> But he chose to do. He determined to create just such a world as we are
living in, and just such a race of creatures as mankind. Of course, he did
not do this without a motive, without some specific object in view, and
some clearly defined plan, or method, by which this object was to be
obtained. He could not foreordain the end, without a foreordination of the
means necessary to it. We cannot suppose he began the work of creation, as
the man of the parable began to build his house, without counting the cost,
or considering whether he were able to finish or not.

Let us now take the case of a single soul, and follow it through its
various experiences to the close of its earthly course, and its entrance
upon the scenes of its future and final destiny. By the will of God this
soul exists. Why did he bring it into being? Was it from caprice or
sudden impulse, without a motive or a plan, without knowing what he should
do with it, or what was to become of it? Or, did he enter upon the solemn
work of giving existence to this immortal creature, for a good and
satisfactory reason, knowing perfectly what the was doing, seeing into all
the future of its life in time and eternity, having a distinct and settled
purpose in regard to its destination, and having all the agencies appointed
and arranged, by which this purpose was to be accomplished?

Certainly this last. The very idea of infinite knowledge, of unerring and
all comprehensive wisdom, compels to this conclusion. Of course, then, it
follows, that in creating this soul with a specific end in view, with a
pre-determined object to be realized, he would endow it with reference to
this end and object.<page 36> Whatever moral
powers and faculties, whatever physical passions and propensities, whatever
strength or weakness, knowledge or ignorance, entered into the organization
of this being, it would be with a perfect foresight of their operative
relations to the plan with which, or the specific destiny for which, he was
created. All his attributes of spirit and body, all his intellectual and
moral qualities, would be harmonized with this plan. Nothing would be
allowed to enter into his composition, which would work to the defeat of
this plan. This is implied in the notion or conception of plan. He would
not create this immortal being for a fore=ordained destiny, and then endow
him with moral and mental qualities, which he distinctly saw would, and of
course, therefore, intended should, forever prevent it from realizing that
destiny!

Let us have this in a more definite form. "By the decree of God, for the
manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto
everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. These
angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and
unchangeably determined, and their number is so certain and definite, that
it cannot be either increased or diminished."

Now suppose the soul, whose case is under review, was one of the number
"foreordained to everlasting death." Suppose God had, at the time of its
creation, purposed and predetermined that it should, in common phrase, be
damned, is it likely he would bestow upon it such spiritual faculties and
tendencies, and surround it with such heavenly influences as would surely
work out its salvation? Suppose, on<page 37> the
other hand, that this soul was one of the number "predestinated unto
everlasting life." Can we for a moment believe that he, who created it,
and in creating had the choice of what it should and what it should not be,
would endow it with any powers or agencies which he knew certainly would
forever prevent it from attaining to this everlasting life? Or, in briefer
phrase, if God intended this soul for hell, would he send a Savior into the
world to bring it to heaven? And if he intended it for heaven, would he
send a devil into the world to drag it down to hell?

This places the subject in its true position, and the old Calvinistic
ground set out in the above quotation, is the only ground on which the
doctrine of endless woe can make any show of defense. If a single soul be
damned, it is because it was created for this end, foreseen and
foreordained. It was the original thought and plan of God in creating it,
and not because he has made a mistake; not because the soul is anything
different from what he expected; not because its faculties have been so
perverted to his great grief, that the design of its creation is defeated.
This is the only consistent and logical ground for those who assert the
omnipotence and omniscience of God.

But for those who also believe in the infinite goodness of God this ground
is impossible. It is impossible to believe that "God is Love," as the
Apostle declares (1 John 4), and at the same time believe that he
deliberately sat down to the work of giving existence to an immortal soul
only that he might make that existence an endless curse to it? There
<page 38> can be no more awful blasphemy than this
yoking together Infinite and Everlasting Love with Infinite and Everlasting
Woe.

[Note: John Foster, distinguished among the English Baptists as a thinker
and writer, in his letter to a young clergyman troubled with doubts in
regard to endless punishment, says, "I acknowledge myself not convinced of
the orthodox doctrine, ENDLESS punishment! Hopeless misery through
a duration to which the most enormous terms of time will be absolutely
NOTHING! I acknowledge my inability (I would say it reverently,) to
admit this belief together with a belief in the DIVINE GOODNESS --
the belief that GOD IS LOVE, that his tender mercies are over all
his works." -- Sheppard's Life and Correspondence of John Foster. Letter
226.]

But one conclusion, therefore, remains, that God, at the time of creating
this soul -- and the argument is from one soul to all souls -- intended it
for everlasting life and blessedness; for an endless growth in knowledge,
in spiritual power and heavenly glory. Hence we have such testimonies as
these: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, ro receive glory and honor and power; for
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created" (Rev. 4:11). "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE which he hath purposed in himself;
that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in
one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;
even in him" (Eph. 1). Here we have a plain and emphatic declaration of
the purpose and pleasure of God in regard to the creation and final destiny
of all intelligences, whether in heaven or on earth. We see what he crated
them for. There is no doubt as to his original intention and design.

And now the argument for his infinite wisdom <page
39> returns with irresistible force. Creating with this
design, he of course arranged his plan of operations, and ordered his
government and laws in reference to it. The nature he bestowed on man, the
mental forces, the moral sentiments, the religious element, the bodily
appetites, were all harmonized to this central thought and aim. The divine
omniscience took in all the possibilities and certainties of his life,
determined all the circumstances of his lot, foresaw all the influences,
however subtle, and inappreciable by us, which would act on him; and
pre-arranged that they would all, directly or indirectly, contribute to the
purposed result; and to the development and glory of "the riches both of
the wisdom and the knowledge of God, and of his unsearchable judgments"
(Rom. 9). Or in the truthful lines of Akenside:

"Beholding in the sacred light
Of his essential reason all the shapes
Of swift contingence, all successive ties
Of action propagated through the sum
Of possible existence, He at once
Down the long series of eventful time
So fixed the dates of being, so disposed
To every living soul of every kind
The field of motion and the hour of rest,
That all conspired TO HIS SUPREME DESIGN,
TO UNIVERSAL GOOD!"

Let us say all we can here of the "free agency" of man, of the obstinacy
and depravity of the human heart, of the rejection of the offers and
conditions of salvation; and after all the argument founded upon the
Scriptural statement, that, "known unto God are all his works from the
beginning to the end," furnishes a simple and final reply to it. God
either did, or did not, foresee all these difficulties (IF
THERE<page 40> BE ANY DIFFICULTIES WITH
GOD,) when he devised his plan of creation and redemption. If he did
not foresee them, then he does not know "all his works from the beginning
to the end" -- but the Bible affirms that he does. He did, therefore,
foresee all these difficulties, and foreseeing, of course, he provided
against them, and adjusted his plan with express reference to overcoming
them.

[Note: The following is from Dr. Johnson, the great lexicographer (if Bp.
Porteus is right,) and while it is directly to the point argued in the
text, it will show the opinion of this literary giant in regard to the
great restoration. The passages are from sermons published by Dr. Taylor,
but which were undoubtedly written by Dr. Johnson. See Boswell's Life, vol.
3, chap. 4. -- "We know that God is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in
goodness; that therefore he designs the happiness of ALL HIS
CREATURES that he cannot but know the proper means by which this end
may be obtained; and that, in the use of these means, as he cannot be
mistaken because he is omniscient, so he cannot be defeated because he is
almighty." In another of these sermons on Psalm 145:9, he says, "Far and
wide as is the vast range of existence, so is the Divine benevolence
extended; and both in the previous trial and FINAL RETRIBUTION OF ALL HIS
RATIONAL AND MORAL PRODUCTIONS, the Lord is good to ALL, and his tender
mercies are over ALL his works."]

We must not forget that both the use and the abuse of the freedom of man,
lay within the sweep of God's omniscience at the time of creating him. If
he had foreseen that man would so abuse this moral freedom as to defeat his
purpose in creating, he would have arranged it differently. And as he did
not arrange it differently, we need have no fears of its being a hindrance
in the way of the fulfilment of that purpose.

Whatever, therefore, the measure of man's freedom, it was embraced in the
original plan of his creation, and is perfectly consistent with the aim and
end of that plan, viz.: the highest perfection and <page
41> blessedness of which he is constitutionally capable. To
this result the wisdom of God is pledged; and all the foreseen means for
its accomplishment lie within the reach, and ready at the fitting time for
the use, of that Almighty Power which "worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will" (Eph 1). And the next section will illustrate the manner
in which the Divine Will conforms the human will to its gracious purposes,
without in any respect violating its rights, or restraining its freedom or
voluntary action.